RBTH presents a selection of views from leading Russian media on international events, featuring reports on former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s visit to Moscow and the creation of a new “socio-patriotic” movement aimed at protecting Russia’s image, as well as an interview with a former volunteer in the Syrian conflict.

Berlusconi visits Putin
for talks on anti-terrorist initiative

The Kommersant business daily writes that former Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi is coming to Russia on a private visit on Sept. 9 to
meet with President Vladimir Putin.

According to the newspaper's Italian
sources, Berlusconi plans on discussing the crisis in Syria and Ukraine. The
Italian version of the Huffington Post reports that the former Italian prime minister
will try "to include Putin in an anti-terrorist campaign, promoting a
diplomatic initiative that could lift the anti-Russian sanctions and defrost
relations with the U.S."

Despite the fact that Berlusconi's mission
does not bear an official nature, Rome might be interested in the former prime
minister's mediation, since Berlusconi has preserved friendly relations with
the Russian leader.

Furthermore, Italian political
analysts agree that without Russia's participation neither the Syrian nor the
ISIS problem can be solved.

According to Italian Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi, Italy will not participate in military action on Syrian
territory.

"What happened in Libya with
Gaddafi is a lesson for us. We need to avoid such mistakes when solving the
crises in Syria and Iraq," said Renzi.

Senator forms movement for fighting ‘anti-Russian
propaganda’

The Izvestiya daily broadsheet writes that Senator
Mikhail Marchenko from the Bryansk Region is creating a social-patriotic
movement called Zaschitim Rossiyu (Let's Protect Russia), which will respond to
the actions of countries aimed at sullying Russia's image.

The senator said that the social organization's
objective will be to inform citizens of the methods of Western “propaganda” and
its representatives in Russia, as well as to organize public events and develop
a positive agenda on Russia.

"From the western countries we
are hearing more and more declarations with various threats, starting with the
sanctions and ending with the improper Russian mass media, which incorrectly reports
on Russia, the West, Crimea and the sanctions," explained Marchenko.

In his words, it is the social
activists and the population that must respond to the actions of the West. They
must respond by refusing imported goods and supporting domestic production.

In the opinion of Sergei Markov, director
of the Institute of Political Studies, there is a demand for efficient Russian
non-profit organizations. But the latter are established only to make money and
share managerial positions, while “the real patriots are fighting without any
resources," said Markov.

To save Bashar al-Assad:
revelations of a volunteer in the Syrian war

Michel Mizakh, a 25-year-old citizen
of Russia and Syria, who several days ago returned from Damascus, where he had
been fighting with the Shabikh pro-government armed formation, has spoken about
what is happening in the country in an interview
with the Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid newspaper.

"My father is from Syria and we
have many relatives there with whom we are in contact practically every day. In
Syria the war is not against Assad but against civilization as such. ISIS [the
Islamic State radical militant group – RBTH] enslaves people, crucifies them,
introduces medieval taxes for Christians and kills Shiites and Alawites right
on the spot."

"Everyone understands that if
the Islamists win, things will not be so sweet. ISIS does not take prisoners.
When they surround you, forget about surrendering, just think of how to take
more militants with you to the other world."

Mizakh says that Assad's supporters
have held Russia in high esteem since the times of the USSR. "But if the
ISIS fighters find out that you are a Slav or have a Slavic wife, then they'll definitely
kill you, because since the Chechnya War, Russia has been one of the Islamists'
main enemies."

Syria will lose only in the event
that a no-fly zone is established. Turkey will openly support the militias and
the anti-ISIS coalition will openly go against Assad, said Mizakh.